Group ride

Maria came along on Jordan today and we had a fun ride--weather was perfect!  Right after mounting up, Wendy arrived with a group of four horses going out for a trail ride, so we asked if we could join them for a bit.  I knew it would be a challenge for Maddie, but she was ready for it.  I kept her in the last and second to last position, where I felt safe if I need room to maneuver.  She got a little excited when the group trotted, but in fact it was another horse in the group that caused its rider the most trouble, not Maddie.  At any rate, Maria & I separated after 15 minutes and went our own way.

I put Maddie in the lead and kept her there for a good long way.  I was really pleased with how she moved out.  I could feel her getting ready to fall back and let Jordan take the lead, but it was really no trouble keeping her in the lead.  We trotted and cantered with glee.  When we got to a large hayfield, Maria opened up Jordan and tore the place up!  Maddie & I let them go past us without a challenge.  It's funny, Maddie is not only happy to let someone else lead, she does not even try that hard to keep up.  She will fall back 100' and not seem to care much.  I actually like this--horses that get that "left behind" panic and bolt to catch up are kind of unnerving to me.

We goofed off in the cross country course, chatted with another rider, and took a series of jumps in the woods.  The only disappointment was the log jump in the cc course--both Maria & I tried to get her over, but I could only get her to walk over it.  I hopped off and made her lunge over it a bunch of times before quitting.